


Happily Ever After

by themystery424



Category: Undertale, Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adventures of Chara and Asriel, Gen, Happy Ending, No one is gonna die, Or sacrifice themselves with buttercups
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-21
Updated: 2017-08-10
Packaged: 2018-12-04 20:39:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11562918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themystery424/pseuds/themystery424
Summary: A story in which Chara lives happily with the Dreemurr family, and no one is gonna get hurt or be hurt.Please feel free to comment any suggestions for the story and story progression! This is just gonna be a long story of happiness in the Dreemurr family, each chapter being it's own mini story. :) Rules are: Nothing sexual, nothing too graphic, and keep it at or below a Teen and Up rating. :)All comments are welcome- feel free to spam or send long requests. I'll work as many into the story as possible. The goal is to upload one chapter, every week on Thursdays.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Italics are usually signing.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING FOR CHAPTER ONE: mentions of suicide.

Chara had known since they were seven years old that they hated their name. So much so that at seven, they stopped replying to it and gave themselves a new name. Chara.   
They remembered how frustrated their parents had been. How angry they’d been that Chara wouldn’t respond to their own name. Chara frowned and told them that it wasn’t their name anymore. Their parents let it go for about a week before they started to yell. Two weeks after that, they started to hit them. Chara became scared to go home.  
School proved to be no better a sanctuary. Chara told their teachers, and they laughed at them. Told them they were silly, and to forget all about this “they” and “Chara” nonsense. As bad as their teachers were, their classmates were worse. Chara remembered walking home, clutching their backpack to their chest as they looked over their shoulder. But as always, someone caught up to them.  
“What are you anyway?” someone asked, shoving Chara to the ground.  
“You can’t be a boy and a girl! Pick one!”   
Then, if they knew Chara’s dead name, they’d shout it at them. It was a nightmare, and Chara could only take so much of it.  
Four years of being bullied, yelled at, ignored… it wore a person down. At eleven years old, Chara climbed Mt. Ebott, not expecting to return. Not alive, anyway.   
They looked down the hole into the abyss. Chara wondered if it’d hurt when they hit the ground. They took a deep breath and smiled. They were going to die smiling. Maybe if they pretended they were happy, they would be, at last. Chara jumped.

As they fell to the bottom of the mountain, their heart raced. They were terrified. What would happen now? What was on the other side? They’d heard stories of how savage and vicious the monsters trapped underground were. Would the monsters eat their body? Would they laugh at how they’d fallen and died? What if they didn’t die, what then? Would the monsters steal their soul?   
Chara hit the ground with a hard THUMP. They felt a change in their heart, from deep inside. Then they felt the pain of falling down a mountain and hitting the ground face first. They yelped, their entire body aching from the pain. Chara looked around, eyes wide as they tried to see in the darkness. Tears stung at the corner of their eyes, but they quickly wiped them away. Crying only made it worse. So they smiled again, and tried to get to their feet. The attempt was unsuccessful, and they fell back.  
Chara hissed in pain and stayed where they were, finding that moving was definitely not an option. Then they heard a noise, not too far away. It sounded like walking, and maybe a little talking. Definitely a laugh. They opened their mouth to say something, and then closed it. Chara wasn’t sure if yelling, drawing attention to themself was the best course of action. How did they know it wasn’t some terrifying monster they were hearing? How did they know that they weren’t going to get ripped to shreds if they brought it over? Chara shuddered. It didn’t sound pleasant, but neither did allowing themselves to rot, there on that cavern floor.  
“Help!” They yelled. “Please, help me!”  
Silence. And then, a boy’s voice echoed through the walls, “Is someone there?”  
“Yes!” Chara yelled. “Yes, please! I need help! I-I fell down!”  
Through the opening, Chara watched a small, white goat-monster step through, with wide, green eyes and a friendly smile. “Howdy! I’m Asriel!” He said. Chara’s eyes widened and they tried to back up, away from him.   
“G-get away from me, you monster!” They shouted harshly. “I-I don’t need-need your help!”  
“But…” He looked confused. “Didn’t you call for help?”  
“Yes! From a human!” Chara told him, starting to feel dizzy. “Not for a monster like you.”  
“Well, there are no humans around here, except for you.” Asriel told them gently, approaching them slowly. “If you let me take you back to my home, my parents and I can help you.”  
Chara frowned. “I’d rather die here then let a monster help me.” They spat. With that last comment, the adrenaline had almost completely worn off. They shook a little, and Asriel dashed forward as they completely collapsed against the ground.   
“Please, let me take you to my house. My parents will know what to do.” Chara couldn’t fight him anymore. They nodded and let him hoist them up to their feet. “What’s your name?”   
“... Chara.” They replied softly, leaning on Asriel. “My name is Chara.”   
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Chara.” Asriel told them. The rest of the walk was mostly quiet, though Chara wasn’t actually sure about that. They hovered in and out of focus, listening to the beat of their heart in their ears. They glanced at Asriel at one point, then looked down at their own.  
“We… have matching sweaters.” They said quietly. Asriel laughed and nodded.  
“Hey, yeah we do!” He grinned. “That’s really cool.” Chara smiled, happy to hear that they had made him laugh.   
When they got to the house, Chara braced themselves for what was coming. They placed a silent bet in their own head about whether or not Asriel would say she or he. The ratio was about even as of right now, which was an achievement on its own.  
“Mom! Dad! I found a human in the Ruins!” Asriel shouted once the two of them were inside. “They’re badly hurt! They need help!”   
Chara’s eyes widened, their heart pounding in their chest so hard it made their cheeks flush. It was an accident, Chara convinced themself. He wouldn’t do it again, and it’d be best if they didn’t get their hopes up. They looked up as a tall, white furred goat monster, way taller than Asriel, walked into the room. She placed her hands over her mouth and gasped at Chara.  
“Oh look at you! You poor dear.” Chara blinked, and in an instant they were lifted into the arms of the goat monster. “Greetings, human.” She said gently. “I am Toriel, mother of Asriel, and Queen of the Underground. And I shall take care of you.” Chara didn’t know what Toriel had meant, but nodded along as they were whisked away to another room. A bedroom, it seemed. They were tucked right in, snug as a bug in the little bed. Asriel ran in after them, and hopped up on the bed beside them.  
“It’s gonna be okay, Chara.” He said gently. “Mom is calling dad and a doctor.”   
Chara looked skeptical, and closed their eyes for what felt like just a moment. When they opened then again though, there were three goat faces in front of them instead of two. Toriel and Asriel were there, looking concerned, along with another goat monster.   
“Howdy Chara.” The new goat monster said, smiling warmly. “I am Asgore.”   
Chara simply stared, feeling weak. “What… what is wrong with me?”  
“Your soul is damaged.” Asgore said. “Your sleep has helped restore some.”  
“My soul…?” They asked wearily. “What…”  
“Your soul is the very culmination of your being.” Asriel explained brightly.   
Before Chara could say anything, they were interrupted by some noise, and a gruff voice shouting, ‘Asriel! Asgore!’. Asriel called him in, and two monsters came running into the room. A skeleton, who looked shocked and had glowing purple eyes, and a monster made of fire. Chara coughed, and looked at Toriel.  
“I still… don’t understand…” They said. Toriel ran her hand through their hair, frowning in worry.  
“Chara, child, save your strength.” The two newcomers had their presence announced by Asriel, and Toriel asked one, Gaster, to check them for damage. They were ready for the examination, when they felt a tug on their heart. Chara yelped in distress, and looked down to see their heart glowing faintly blue against their chest.  
“What are you doing!” They screeched at the skeleton. The skeleton, Gaster they realized, frowned at them. He raised his hands and started to sign. Chara stared at the hands, their sign language a little rusty.  
“Checking you for damage.” He had said. Chara watched him sign to Toriel, before she’d dashed off. Chara was dizzy from all the commotion, and then there was a sound so jarring they had to shout. The skeleton turned around, confused.  
“What was that horrible noise you made!” They demanded.   
“Oh that’s just how Uncle Gaster talks.” Asriel explained with a soft smile. Chara relaxed a little and reciprocated the smile, feeling relieved that Asriel trusted the skeleton.  
Gaster and Asgore left the room, leaving the being of fire to watch over Asriel and Chara. Chara asked him some questions, got minimal answers, and soon gave up. They laid back down, and before they knew it they were asleep again. Their last thought before they completely dozed off was, maybe this place isn’t that bad.


	2. Chocolate v. Butterscotch

Chara had adjusted well to their new home, sharing a room with their new friend. Asriel had been overjoyed to have a roommate, and kept Chara involved in everything he did. Chara appreciated it, though tried to keep their distance all in all. One day, they woke up to Asriel gently shaking them, whispering,

“Chara… Chara wake up! Chara, mom’s making butterscotch pie, and she asked if we could help!”

Chara groaned and rubbed their eyes. “Ugh… why not a different type of pie?”

“Like cinnamon?” Asriel asked. “We could make a butterscotch-cinnamon pie!”

“No, no no. Like, chocolate.” They said. “Chocolate’s my favorite.”

Asriel laughed. “Oh Chara! Are you kidding around? Butterscotch is the best!” 

Chara slowly sat up from bed, looking at Asriel with a look of disbelief. “How could you say that? Chocolate’s the best, in a pie, as a bar, any place, any time! Chocolate’s the best!”

Asriel huffed. “And here I thought humans had taste.”

Chara narrowed their red eyes at him, before jumping up and tackling the goat prince to the floor. Asriel yelped in surprise, and flipped them, Asriel now pinning the human to the floor. Chara squirmed, seemingly defeated, until a mischievous gleam took to their eyes. They reached up with their hand, and brushed their fingers against Asriel’s side. The touch, light as it was, was enough to make him retract his arms and laugh.

“H-hey! No fair Chara!”

“Is too fair!” Chara pinned him to the ground once again before mercilessly tickling him. Asriel writhed under the touches, laughing as hard as he could. 

“Ch-Chara I can’t brea-breathe!” He gasped, and Chara stopped. But they didn’t let him up.

“Say chocolate is better than butterscotch! Say it!” They commanded.

“Never!” He said firmly. Chara shrugged.

“Suit yourself!” They began to tickle him again, and Asriel laughed, squirming to try and get them off. After a while, Asriel had had enough. Without meaning to, Asriel conjured a small magical fireball, which fired at Chara’s hair. Not only did their HP drop down to 16/20, but their hair was completely singed. Chara stopped immediately, touching their bobbed hair in shock. Asriel scrambled away, looking just as shocked as Chara did.

“Oh! Oh. Oh no oh no oh no! Chara I’m so so sorry! Are you okay?” Chara just sat there in shock, a creepy smile spreading across their face as tears threatened to well in their eyes.

“I’m fine.” They said coolly. “Let’s tell Toriel.” Asriel nodded, and Chara got to their feet. Y

The two children walked to the kitchen where Toriel was preparing some crust.

“Mom…” Asriel said softly. “I… Chara and I were mes-messing around and I… I messed up…”

“Oh I’m sure it’s not all- oh my!” Toriel gasped as she saw the child’s charred hair and hollow smile. “My poor child… We’ll have to give your hair a cut.”

Chara nodded, reaching up to touched the stiff locks. “Do… do you have any chocolate, goat mom?” They asked softly. Toriel reached into the fridge and pulled out a name-brand chocolate bar. Chara opened it and took a few bites, letting Toriel lead them to the living room. Toriel started to snip at their hair, cutting away the burned hair while also trying to keep it stylish. Chara let her, not asking questions as Toriel worked. Asriel watched with wide eyes, feeling guilty. His eyes were swelled up, and Chara looked concerned.

“Are you okay, Azzy?” They asked.

“Uh huh.” He said, nodding a little. “I-I’m really sorry, Chara! I didn’t mean to!”

Finally, Chara’s smile melted into a real smile, with genuine feeling. “It’s okay, Asriel. I forgive you. It’ll grow back.” They told him gently. “You’ll see.”

“My child, please be still, okay? I don’t want to mess this up.” Toriel said sweetly, and Chara stilled themselves. Asriel watched, eyes following each strand of hair that fell. 

When the haircut was finished, Chara looked at their hair in the hallway mirror. It was thinner, but otherwise it was the same style. Chara smiled, happy with the outcome. They walked back out to the living room, where Asriel was there, smiling shyly.

“So… what do you wanna do now?” He asked. “We could go to Snowdin, see Uncle Grillby, or go to the dump, or go see Uncle Gaster in his lab?” 

Chara thought it over before smiling. “The dump.” they decided. 

“Cool! Let’s go!” Asriel grinned, taking their hand and dragging them outside. Chara giggled and went along with him. They took in the beauty of Hotland’s majesty and lava flames. There was a little volcano monster, running around and claiming its lava could heal people. Chara didn’t believe it, but smiled at the little monster and waved.

Chara and Asriel got a ride from the Riverperson to Waterfall, and from there they walked to the dump. Chara grinned and started to investigate. They dug through heaps of trash, looking at various items of interest. Asriel giggled and dug through the trash too.

“Aw yes!” Chara held up a pair of knitting needles. “Look what I found!”

Asriel looked over at them, confused. “What’re those?”

“Knitting needles! I thought I’d never get to knit again. I love knitting so much.” They beamed. “Hey, can you see if you can find any yarn?”

“Okie doke!” Asriel grinned, and dug some more through the trash. “Oh! Look at this!”

Chara looked up and saw Asriel holding a plastic skull. Chara burst out laughing. “It looks like Gaster!”

“All it needs is some cracks!” Asriel agreed, and put it in the keep pile, where the knitting needles already were.

Other than that, they didn’t find too many things of interest. Chara found two skeins of yarn, one green and one pink, and Asriel found some action figures. The two of them walked home together, grinning at their finds. On the walk home, they stumbled into Dr. Gaster, both children nearly dropping their treasures in surprise.

_ “Hello, children.”  _ Gaster signed, eyeing Chara suspiciously. Chara looked away, but Asriel didn’t notice.

“Hello Uncle Gaster! Look what we found!” Asriel beamed, showing him the plastic skull. Gaster’s bones rattled in surprise, and Chara giggled.

_ “That is unnerving… carry on, children.”  _ He signed, running off. Asriel and Chara laughed together as they continued home. Once there, they were greeted by Asgore and Toriel, who grinned when they saw the two children. 

After dinner, Chara and Asriel laid across from each other, smiling happily. Chara themself was happy, as happy as could be, settling into their new home.


	3. Heads Will Roll

Chara sat on the stool to the lab, idly kicking their feet while they watched Dr. Gaster run about, testing different liquids and looking at them through the top overhead lights. They were bored. Asriel didn’t seem too bored though, watching Dr. Gaster with awe, eyes reflecting the fluorescents with childlike curiosity. Science wasn’t really something Chara liked, and while they had their knitting needles there beside them, knitting had also grown boring. They didn’t know what to do.

_ “Children,”  _ Dr. Gaster signed, turning around so Chara could see him too.  _ “I’ll be back. I need to collect magma samples. Stay here, alright?”  _

“Sure thing!” Asriel grinned. “Have fun, Uncle Gaster!”

When the skeleton was out of the room, Chara hopped off the stool and immediately began to snoop around the lab. Asriel frowned, disapproving of snooping through other people’s property. “Chara, what’re you doing?” He asked.

“I don’t know! Trying to find something cool!” Chara groaned. “Why do we have to be here with him anyway, why can’t we just go exploring around the Underground like usual?”

“Because spending time with Uncle Gaster makes mom and dad happy. He’s family too, you know.” Asriel told them, and they groaned again. “What do you want to do, beside go out and explore?”

“I don’t know…” Chara looked around some more, and grinned. “Hey, look at this!” They ran over and pulled down a coil full of silver wire. “Do you think we could get him to trip on this?”

“Chara! That’s mean!” Asriel protested. “You really want to trip Uncle Gaster?”

“Yeah! It’ll just be a harmless trip wire. C’mon, Asriel. Don’t you think it’ll be fun to see him fall on his face?” 

“No.” Asriel frowned. “I think it’ll be mean. Chara, come on. Let’s do something else, anything else.” 

Chara made their bright red eyes as big as they could go. “Please, Asriel? Just one little trip. Pleeeaasse?” 

Asriel stood firm, for a moment, before sighing. “Okay, Chara. But this is the only time I’ll ever help you with this kind of stuff! No more after this!” Chara grinned and nodded, running to the doorway and beginning to set it up. Asriel reluctantly followed, helping them where he could. 

Before too long, they heard the elevator door open and close, signalling Gaster’s return. Chara was giddy. They had never done this before, but had been on the receiving end of jokes like this for far too long. For a moment, they paused, knowing they shouldn’t do this. It hurt, every single time a kid had do it to them, and it made them feel awful to fall on their face and have everyone laugh. Chara shook their head. They needed to know what it felt like to be the one doing it, at least once. Maybe then they could understand why so many people had done it to them for so long.

When Gaster was close, Asriel and Chara pulled the wire tight. Gaster and his samples came crashing down, the magma spilling all over the place. Chara laughed, although it wasn’t really funny. For some reason, they felt worse than when they were the one getting tripped. A glance over at Asriel confirmed that he didn’t really like it either, but was smiling anyway, for Chara’s benefit. Chara was still smiling when they said, “It really wasn’t that funny, you were right.” 

“Yeah?” Asriel looked pleased to hear that. 

“Yeah. I won’t do it again, Azzy. I promise.” 

“Good to hear it.” Asriel beamed, running over to hug Chara. Chara hugged back tightly, their smile becoming completely genuine. Then they snuggled into Asriel’s fur, making the boy laugh. “Hey! Stop that!”

“You’re so soft!” Chara began to pet his head, and Asriel pushed them away , laughing.

“Doesn’t matter how soft I am! You don’t get to pet me!” He grinned. Then the children turned, looking at Gaster, who was still laying on the floor. “Uncle Gaster? You can get up now. We’re not going to be doing anything like that again.” 

Gaster still laid there.

Chara frowned. “Come on, are you really mad at us? If so, it was all my idea. Don’t be mad at Azzy, and don’t just lay there. Just get up and call mom and dad already.”

Gaster still didn’t move. Soon, noise erupted from where he was lying, and both kids jumped. It was the noise he made when he was actually talking instead of signing, but it wasn’t coming from where his head should have been. Asriel’s eyes went wide, and he quickly looked around. 

“Uncle Gaster?” He asked. 

The noise got louder, and Chara, being the braver of the two, followed it. Leaning against a cabinet three feet from where his body was lying was the skull of W.D. Gaster, upside down but obviously frowning. Chara jumped and screamed, and Asriel came running over, before screaming with them.

“Uncle Gaster!” Asriel shouted.

“Doctor Gaster I’m so so so sorry!” Chara cried. “Please don’t turn to dust! Please don’t be mad! I’m sorry it was just a joke!”

Gaster was still frowning, and kept talking to them in the horrible noise. 

Chara looked at Asriel. “What do we do?” They asked.

“I don’t know… I mean, is he dead?” Asriel asked back. “His body can’t move anymore. He’s just a talking head.”   
“Should we take him to Grillby?” 

“Seems like the only thing we can do, since they’re husbands. Grillby has a right to know what happened, and maybe he can help us.” Asriel nodded. “Oh! And Grillby can understand what Gaster’s saying, so then we can get him all the help he needs.”

“Yeah!” Chara grinned. “Let’s go!”   
“Uh…” Asriel glanced at Gaster, who was still trying to talk to them in Wingdings. “One of us has to carry Uncle Gaster though.” 

Chara and Asriel exchanged glances, before glancing at the skull. Finally, they played a quick game of rock, paper, scissors, a game that Asriel lost. Asriel groaned, but all the same, he walked over and picked up the skull. Gaster spoke louder, and seemed to be protesting, but the kids didn’t care. Asriel held him tightly, and followed Chara out of the lab.

“So, should we take the Riverperson to Snowdin town?” They asked, and Asriel nodded. 

“Yeah, the quicker the better.” He agreed. Chara smiled, took his free hand, and began to pull him towards the ferry. The two children laughed, running with the skull under Asriel’s free arm. “Man, this place is so cool.” Chara said. “I love Hotland.”

“Yeah, it sure is pretty.” Asriel nodded. “Although Waterfall is my favorite.”

“It always smells like garbage there.” Chara wrinkled their nose. “I hate it.”

“It doesn’t smell like garbage everywhere.” Asriel told them. “There’s a room with tons of echo flowers, and the glowing lantern room is really pretty, and the smell doesn’t reach those areas!”   
“I don’t remember those areas.” Chara told him as they approached the Riverperson. “Maybe on the way back, we could go through Waterfall and you could show me.” They offered, and Asriel beamed.   
“It’d be my pleasure! And we can stop in the wishing room, and make a wish!”

They boarded the boat, Gaster muttering in Wingdings, obviously disgruntled. Asriel set the skull down. The Riverperson turned around to face them.

“Where to, tr-” They stopped, and for the first time ever, they laughed. The Riverperson laughed, and laughed hard, sinking down and sitting on the boat. Their laugh was contagious, and soon even Asriel and Chara were snickering. Gaster’s cheekbones were flushed violet with rage, and he began to shout at the Riverperson in Wingdings. The Riverperson sunk down, sitting on the ground they were laughing so hard.

Chara grinned. “Snowdin please!” They piped up, and the boat began to move, Riverperson still laughing as they went. By the time they finally got to Snowdin, the Riverperson had regained their posture.

“Come again, tra la la! And Dr. Gaster, I hope you find your body soon, tra la la!” 

Gaster was fuming.

Chara offered to carry the skull this time, since Asriel had done it last time. They walked to Grillby’s, all the while trying to catch snowflakes on their tongues. Finally they arrived at Grillby’s, and pushed the heavy doors open. Chara tried to hide the skull from the other monsters, keeping Gaster out of sight. Finally they got to the bar, sitting on the stools. Grillby turned to face them, his orange flames burning low.

“Hello children.” He said. 

“Hi Uncle Grillby!” Asriel grinned. “Can we have two milkshakes please?”

Grillby looked skeptical, as if he were waiting for something. Almost as an afterthought, Asriel pulled out some gold, and set it on the bar. Grillby nodded, took the gold and left to make some milkshakes. 

Chara shot Asriel a ‘really?’ look, and Asriel shrugged.

“I like milkshakes.” He said sheepishly, smiling shyly. Grillby returned with the shakes, setting them on the counter. Immediately, both children began to drink them, slurping them up. After a few minutes of that, Gaster shouted from his place hidden on Chara’s lap, making everyone in the bar jump except Grillby, who merely stiffened his posture.

“Gaster?” He asked, looking around. “Gaster, dear, where are you?”

Gaster shouted again, and Chara shyly lifted the skull and put it on the counter. Grillby’s flames turned gold for a moment, before settling back into the usual orange color. He stifled a laugh, covering his mouth. “Gaster?”

Gaster spoke to Grillby, and the fire monster nodded along, still covering his mouth to prevent laughter from escaping. The fire monster turned and looked at the kids.

“As funny as this situation is,” Grillby told them. “Gaster is very angry at you both. He wants you to know that, firstly, all skeleton limbs can come off and snap back on like nothing happened. Including skulls. You could have reconnected his head at the lab.”

“Oh.” Both kids murmured simultaneously.

“Secondly, Gaster’s cell was in his labcoat pocket. Instead of carrying his skull all the way out here to Snowdin, you could have called me and held the phone up to his mouth.”

“Oh.” They said again.

“Sorry Uncle Gaster.” Asriel said softly, looking down at his feet.

“Sorry.” Chara added on. “We’ll get you back to your body.”

Gaster made a noise, which sounded vaguely like appreciation. Grillby smiled, picked up the skull, and pressed a soft kiss to the skeleton’s teeth. Gaster immediately blushed, and Chara and Asriel scrunched their faces up. 

“Ew.” Chara murmured.

“Ick.” Asriel agreed.

Grillby and Gaster ignored them. “Take it easy on them when you get back to Hotland, okay love?” Grillby said gently. “They’re just kids. I’m sure they didn’t mean any harm.”

Gaster sounded disgruntled, and Grillby laughed.

“We’ll talk about it when you get home.” The bartender handed the children the royal scientist’s skull, which Asriel took in his arms carefully. “Be careful going back, okay?”

“Okay, Uncle Grillby.” Asriel smiled. “Let’s go!”

“Bye, Grillby!” Chara waved. “Thanks for the milkshakes!” 

With that, they headed out again. They took the long way back this time, Asriel showing Chara all the echo flowers and lanterns. Then they got to the wishing room, and Chara looked around with their mouth slightly agape. 

“Wow…” They whispered. “This place is beautiful.”   
Asriel nodded. “It’s the closest thing we have to stars.” He whispered. “There was a myth once, that said if a monster wishes on a star and believes with all their soul, the wish will come true.” He smiled faintly. “We’re all wishing for the same thing now… and tons of monsters wishing together, believing with their whole hearts… they can’t be wrong, right?”

Chara stared at the ground. “I’m sorry, Asriel.” They whispered, and Asriel looked at them, confused.

“For what, Chara?”

“For humans, trapping all the monsters underground.” They sat down, staring up at the gems in the ceiling. Asriel set Gaster down off to the side, and sat down with Chara. He hugged them, and Chara hugged him back tightly. “I wish we could fix it.”

“We can’t.” He said softly. “But one day, we’ll be free. We just have to be patient.” 

Chara nodded in agreement. “Okay… Okay. You’re right.” They said. “Well… we should get going…”

Asriel nodded, picking up Dr. Gaster again as they walked along. After a few moments, he asked, “Hey, Chara?”

“Yeah?” They asked.

“What’s that beating thing, in your chest?”

Chara looked confused. “What, my heart?” 

Asriel looked just as confused. “I thought heart was just a shape.”

“No,” Chara laughed. “No, well, at least not to humans. We have a heart, which pumps blood to the rest of our bodies to keep us alive. Although, ever since I got to the Underground, I don’t know if it’s even there anymore. I can’t feel my pulse anywhere anymore, except right above my heart.”

“Can I see it?” Asriel asked. “Or, are hearts like souls? If so, I don’t think I should see it. That’d be inappropriate.” He said.

“Hearts are actually stuck inside of us humans.” Chara laughed. “Connected to the rest of our organs to give them life. If I pulled it out, I would die.”

“That’s weird.” Asriel said, confused. “Huh.”

“What?” They asked with a smile.   
“Well, I read that humans don’t need kindness in their souls to live.” He said. “And I wonder if it’s because humans have hearts to keep them going instead.”

Chara thought about it and shrugged. “Probably.”

“I’m glad no monsters have hearts.” Asriel nodded. 

“Yeah, me too…” Chara agreed quietly, looking down at their chest. Asriel looked over at them, and reached out to hold their hand with his free hand, which they accepted immediately. Chara squeezed his hand lightly, and for the rest of the journey home, they remained silent.

Thankfully, when Gaster’s head was connected to his body, he didn’t comment on anything they had said to each other, which he had been present for. Instead, he began to scold them.

_ “That was immature, and unkind. I can’t believe you two! Where’d you get an idea like that anyway?” _ _   
_ “Home.” Chara answered, tone flat, eyes lifeless though they were smiling

Gaster took a step back, and looked down at the floor. He understood.

“What? We didn’t learn that at home.” Asriel said, confused. “What’re you talking about?”

“Oh, I found a movie at the dump that they did that in.” Chara quickly rebounded, smiling brightly. “I watched it at home, that’s where I got the idea.”

_ “Either way,”  _ Gaster signed.  _ “You’re not in a movie, this place is much better. You shouldn’t do things like that. It’s unkind, especially to someone who cares about you two very much.”  _ He scolded lightly. Chara and Asriel nodded in understanding, and Gaster sighed.  _ “Alright, run along. I have work to do. And you two are distractions.”  _

“Yes, Uncle Gaster.” Asriel smiled. 

Chara paused. “Yes, Uncle Gaster.” They said softly. 

The skeleton smiled and patted both of their heads.  _ “I’ll see you later.”  _ He signed.

The children left, and Chara was smiling faintly. They liked it here. Everyone was nice, no one was unkind… It was reassuring. The moment the children got home, both decided to take a nap, falling asleep in their beds, tired from their adventures that day.


	4. It's Real Punny, Running Into You Here

Chara Dreemurr hated it when Asriel couldn’t be by their side. But the monster had something the human didn’t- magic. And Asriel needed to be taught how to control it, otherwise they’d be a witness to more bursts of fire at random. 

To entertain themselves, Chara had traveled to Snowdin, sitting inside the warm, inviting bar that was Grillby’s, the owner being Dr. Gaster’s husband. The fire monster kept glancing at Chara, who was sulking. Eventually, Grillby felt bad for the young human, and walked over with a milkshake on a tray. Chara looked up, startled.

“Uh, thanks.” They said, sipping it. “I don’t have any money…”

Grillby waved it off. “I’ll put it on a tab.” He said, returning to his station behind the bar. In slightly better spirits, Chara drank their shake, inspecting the bar patrons. Most of them were the dogs of the Royal guard. There was a few bird monsters, a bunny, a fish… they all seemed quite content talking amongst themselves, until the door opened, blowing a gust of cold wind in.

Chara turned around, watching a short monster in a blue hoodie make his way to the bar. He also wore basketball shorts and slippers, a look Chara found distasteful.

“the usual?” the new monster asked. “please?”

“Last one, Sans. After this, I’m going to demand you order real beverages from my bar.” Grillby handed him a bottle of ketchup. Chara watched the new monster unscrew the top and drink straight from the bottle. The sight was enough to make the human sick to their stomach, though they kept on drinking their shake. They watched the monster from afar, not able to hear everything he was saying to Grillby. Soon enough, the fire monster presented him with a bill.

“eh, put it on my tab.” He grinned. 

The fire monster rolled his eyes. “You’re going to have to pay this off sooner or later, you know.”

“i’ll take later over sooner.” Then he left. Chara got up, their shake gone, and followed the monster outside. But he was nowhere in sight. They frowned, wondering how he could have vanished so quickly. 

“hey kid, you followin’ me?” 

Chara jumped, turning around to come face to face with him. As it turned out, he was a skeleton, just like Dr. Gaster. Chara opened their mouth, and then closed it, not sure what to say to justify their stalking. The skeleton watched them, an eye socket raised, waiting for an answer.

“Uh… sorry, sir…” Chara said, kicking the ground lightly.

“heheh, no worries. also, don’t call me sir. i ain’t my dad, ya know?” The skeleton shrugged. “name’s sans, sans the skeleton.” He put his hand forward.

Chara took it, ready to shake, when a loud fart noise erupted from the contact. Chara frowned. “Wow. Hilarious.” They told him sarcastically.

“always is.” He winked. “you must be the squirt the king and queen adopted, right? i heard a lot about you. hey, wanna come by my house? my bro has a fascination with humans, and would love to meet one.” 

Chara paused, not sure if the stranger-danger rule they’d learned in the human world applied to the Underground. After all, most monsters knew each other, were kind, and were genuinely good people. Chara shrugged and followed the skeleton back to his house at the end of the block.

Sans opened the door, and the two stepped in. Chara looked around, a little less than impressed. Sans looked around too, looking a tad surprised.

“huh. guess he’s on patrol right now.” He shrugged, flopping back onto the couch. “oh well. you can go if you want. he won’t be back for a while.”

Chara glanced towards the door, then looked back to Sans. They sat on the floor in front of him, his eye sockets closed.

“Is your name really Sans?”

“uh huh.” Sans nodded. “my full name is comic sans, if you were curious.”

“Really.”

“yep.”

“What kind of moron names their child Comic Sans?”

Someone coughed from behind Chara, and once again they jumped. Angry about being snuck up on twice in the same day, for a split second Chara saw red was going to yell. Then they saw who coughed.   
“Dr. Gaster?”

“hey pops.” Sans waved. 

_ “Hello Chara. Sans. Glad to see you two have met.”  _ The doctor signed, looking a little peeved.  _ “And for your information, skeletons don’t name their children. It all depends on the font they were born with. You’ll do well to keep your opinions to yourself.” _

“whatcha doin’ here anyway? you and dad moved down the street. oh no. are you becoming senile? jeez dad i’m too young to have a senile parent.” 

_ “No, I’m not senile, Sans.”  _ Gaster signed with a frown.  _ “I came here to make sure we had the rest of our belongings. What do you take me for, some kind of  _ bonehead _?”  _

Chara groaned at the pun, though both father and son were grinning.

“heh. well, think you and dad’ll  _ bonely  _ without pap and i there?” 

_ “I’m sure we’ll be alright. It’ll take a little  _ backbone  _ is all.”  _

Sans beamed with pride, and Gaster smiled fondly. He walked over, giving the human a pat on the head, before making his way for the door. He spoke in that language Chara couldn’t understand, which made Chara flinch. Sans said something back before Gaster was out the door, then the scientist was gone. Sans turned his attention to the human.   
“so, wanna pull some pranks?”

“Not really, I tried that once and… it didn’t end well.”

Sans paused, and then started to laugh. “oh yeah! that was you, wasn’t it? you tripped pops and his head fell off! dad told pap and i all about that.” 

Chara tilted their head. “Is Grillby your dad?” 

“uh huh. he’s a pretty good dad too.” Sans smiled. “anyway, whatcha wanna-?”

“SANS!!!” Chara looked up as the door flew open. Another skeleton came barging through the doorway, his eyes bugged out of his head. “SANS I HAVE FANTASTIC NEWS!!! I FOUND A HUMAN!!!”

“heh, whatta coincidence, i found one too.” Sans gestured to Chara.

The new skeleton turned his attention to Chara, and he gasped loudly. “YOU ARE CHARA!!! IT’S A PLEASURE TO MEET THE ROYAL COUPLE’S NEWEST CHILD!!! HELLO, I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!!!” 

“Uh, hey.” Chara waved, confused. “It’s nice to meet you, Papyrus. Are you also Dr. Gaster’s son?”

“WHY YES I AM!! BUT THAT IS NOT OF IMPORTANCE RIGHT NOW. THERE IS A HUMAN I NEED TO HELP. AND I’M ENLISTING YOU TWO TO HELP ME!!”

“nah.”

“There’s another human down here?” Chara asked, confused. “I thought I was the only one.”

“WELL, YOU WERE. BUT THERE’S ONE IN THE RUINS!! I WAS PATROLLING THERE WHEN I FOUND HER. PLEASE, SINCE YOU TWO ARE BOTH HUMANS, PERHAPS YOU WILL BE ABLE TO HELP TALK TO HER? SHE SCREAMED WHEN SHE SAW ME.” Papyrus looked thoughtful. “PERHAPS SHE WAS SCARED OF ME.”

“Alright, I’ll come.” Chara nodded, not seeing anything better to do. “But Sans has to come too.”

“ugghhhh. leave me behind. i need my beauty sleep.” Sans told them.

“SANS YOU LAZY BONES!!! ALL YOU DO IS DRINK KETCHUP AND SLEEP!!! A VISIT TO THE RUINS WILL DO THAT FIGURE OF YOURS SOME GOOD.”

Sans cracked an eye socket to look at his brother. “are you callin’ me fat?”

Papyrus crossed his arms. “I WOULD NEVER SAY SUCH THINGS EVER.”

“cause you and i know i’m not fat,” he grinned.

Papyrus’s eyes bulged out of his head once again. “DON’T YOU SAY IT.”

“i’m just-”   
“SANS DON’T YOU-”

“-big boned.” Sans winked.

“NYEEEEEEEEE!!! THAT’S IT!!! YOU ARE COMING WITH US RIGHT NOW!!!”

Chara giggled. They watched as Papyrus hoisted the lazy skeleton over his shoulder and started out the door. Chara quickly followed, having to jog to keep up with Papyrus’s stride. Sans, although now in a very uncomfortable position, still fell asleep on his brother’s shoulder.

“HMPH.” Papyrus huffed when he realized. He was smiling nonetheless, and fondness touched the pinpricks of white that were his eyes. Chara smiled at them.

“You really care about each other, huh.”

“WELL OF COURSE. WE ARE SIBLINGS. YOU MUST FEEL THE SAME WAY ABOUT PRINCE ASRIEL, DO YOU NOT?”

“Yeah, definitely.” They giggled. “He’s my best friend.”   
“THAT IS GOOD TO HEAR, HUMAN. ASRIEL DEFINITELY NEEDED A GOOD FRIEND. IT’S VERY HARD TO THE BE PRINCE, I IMAGINE.”

Chara nodded, kicking the ground a little. “I’ll help him be the king.” They smiled. “Give him advice and stuff.”   
“GOOD TO HEAR! NOW SHUSH,” the skeleton started to do his version of whispering, which Chara noticed was still really loud. “THE HUMAN IS RIGHT HERE.”

Chara glanced over to the bed of flowers, noticing a girl sitting among them. She had a ribbon tied around her head, making a bow. In her hands was a knife, which the girl pressed to her palm. Chara flinched, waiting for the blood, just to see the blade collapse in itself. It was a toy knife, which made Chara exhale in relief. They stepped out from where the three of them had been hiding, and slowly approached the bed of flowers.

The girl turned around, gasping in fear. “Who are you!” She demanded, showing the toy knife.

“Easy there.” Chara said gently, kneeling to be on her same level. “Greetings, I am Chara.” 

The girl looked skeptical. “Hi Chara…” She said softly. “I’m Paeton.” 

“Nice to meet you, Paeton. Golly, you must be so confused.” Chara chuckled, scratching the back of their head. “That’s okay, I was too when I first came here.”

“You’re a human?” Paeton asked softly.

Chara nodded. “Yeah, I’m a human. Until now, I was the only one in the Underground.”

“Do the monsters hurt you? Or try to take your soul?” Fear trembled through Paeton’s voice. “I don’t wanna die. My friends pushed me down here. They said they’d be back to get me, and I’m going to wait for them. They can get you too! I swear!”

“Easy, easy, Paeton.” Chara cooed, and the girl, who Chara noticed was younger than themself, calmed down a little. “The monsters here, they don’t hurt people. They like me. Look, my friends are right over there even.” Chara gestured to where Papyrus and Sans was. “Hey, come on out you two!”

Papyrus stepped out from the hiding place, still holding a sleeping Sans. Paeton squeaked. “That’s the monster that attacked me!”

“NO, HUMAN!! YOU ARE CONFUSED. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WAS ONLY OFFERING YOU MY HAND TO HELP YOU UP.” Papyrus said. “I MEANT NO HARM, AND MY LAZY BROTHER ISN’T EVEN MOTIVATED TO PICK UP HIS OWN SOCKS, SO I DOUBT HE HAS THE TIME TO HURT YOU.”

Paeton looked at the sleeping brother.   
“zzzzzz.”

“People who are really sleeping don’t go ‘zzzz’.” Paeton pointed out, and Papyrus’s eyes popped out once again. He held his brother above his head in the air.

“SANS!!! WERE YOU FAKING SLEEP THIS WHOLE TIME???”

“heh. looks like i was caught.”

Both Chara and Paeton laughed.

“YOU COULD HAVE WALKED HERE ALL ON YOUR OWN!!”

“sorry bro. i was  _ bone tired  _ and just couldn’t make it.”

“SANS I’M LEAVING YOU HERE. HUMANS, PLEASE ACCOMPANY ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BACK TO SNOWDIN.” Papyrus set Sans on the ground, crossing his arms and turning away. Chara looked at Paeton, who glanced up again.

“I’m going to wait here for my friends.” She said softly. “They said they’d come back. And I don’t wanna upset them.”

Chara frowned. “Well… I’ll come visit you tomorrow, and bring a different friend. We’ll bring you something to eat, in case you’re still here. And, if you get tired of waiting,” They shrugged. “Snowdin isn’t too far of a walk.”

Paeton smiled and shook her head. “Thank you, but I’ll be fine. No need to worry.”

“NYEH.” Papyrus huffed. “ALRIGHT, FINE. CHARA, PLEASE ACCOMPANY ME BACK TO SNOWDIN.”

Chara laughed softly but nodded, standing up. They waved goodbye to Paeton, who waved back. Sans had disappeared, somehow, and Chara was left to walk with Papyrus alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/kudos/etc. are welcome and appreciated!


End file.
